Hawaii needs to end federal government reliance

December 25, 2012

While we collectively mourn our long-standing Sen. Daniel Inouye, let's think about the ramifications of putting all of our eggs in one or three baskets.

With the retirement of Sen. Daniel Akaka and the death of Inouye, we will now have the two most junior senators in Washington, greatly diminishing the ability to bring federal dollars to Hawaii.

It has been said that the Hawaii economy has three parts - tourism, the military and Inouye. We have lost a major component of our economy, showing how reliance on one man is bad for our economic health.

Hawaii must diversify away from our reliance on federal government spending for our long-term economic health.

What we need is effective state governance and a robust education system worthy of the $16,000 per student we taxpayers pay. This will require a change in the Department of Education from central control to local school boards. The state with the best educational statistics (Vermont) uses this model for its school system. To move the economy and our society in the right direction, we need an educated and well-informed citizenry.

We also need an agricultural sector that can feed us. Economics is not just all about money, which is a medium of exchange, it is about system resilience and diversity as well.

Aloha, Sen. Inouye; we loved you and your pork-barrel spending that stimulated our economy for the last 50 years, but now we must move on and learn to take care of ourselves.